Securing the plate

Erica R. Lavdanski in her greenhouse at B&H Organic Produce in Caernarvon Township, Lancaster County, is concerned about the effect of new food-safety regulations on small farmers.

James Weaver sells heirloom tomatoes to Wegman's, a grocery retailer with strict requirements for food safety.

The owner of Meadow View Farm in Maxatawny Township admits it was a bother, at first, but he's adapted to the chain's rules.

"It affects how I do business and how I do crops," he said.

The biggest impact was the paperwork. Weaver estimates he spends an extra 45 minutes a day documenting his compliance with regulations, which includes touring his fields to ensure no wild animal or human entered them. The trespassers could contaminate his crop with pathogens like E. coli through droppings or a soiled shoe.

"If there was evidence, I would have to flag that area and tell my workers not to pick in that area," he said.

The precautions are there to protect consumers from illness, even death. Prompted in part by the terror attacks of 9/11 and deadly food-borne illness outbreaks, such as 2011's salmonella incident that killed 30 people who ate tainted cantaloupes, growers and food processors have tightened food-safety controls.

Soon, new regulations that will take those precautions even further may be enacted. The federal Food and Drug Administration has proposed rules designed to make it easier to trace produce from a field in Berks County to a plate in New York City.

The rules, currently open for public comment, are designed "to minimize contamination that could cause serious adverse health consequences or death," according to the FDA.

Among the requirements being proposed by the agency:

•Farm and packinghouse workers must receive training on personal hygiene. Growers would have to provide adequate toilet and hand-washing facilities to workers in the field.

• Growers must be able to prove the water they use for irrigation, washing and other uses is free of contaminants.

• Restrictions on the use of raw animal manure on fields.

Science-based safety

The rules are based on two years of meetings by FDA staff with growers, processors, retailers and consumer groups.

"The FDA Food and Safety Modernization Act is a common-sense law that shifts the food-safety focus from reactive to preventive," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "We are establishing a science-based, flexible system to better prevent food-borne illness and protect American families."

Food-borne illnesses sicken some 48 million people a year in the U.S. Of those, 3,000 die, and 130,000 are hospitalized, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The proposed regulations do not apply to all products, or all farms. In the cross hairs are products typically eaten raw, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbs, mushrooms and sprouts, said Luke LaBorde, associate professor in food science at Penn State University.

Small farmers with gross sales under $25,000 are exempt, as are those who grow for personal consumption.

Farmers with sales between $25,000 and $500,000 may qualify for an exemption.

"They are basically good ag practices," LaBorde said.

But it will have an impact on small farmers who will have to keep more records, he added.

Big change

The proposed regulations worry Erica R. Lavdanski of West Reading, a certified organic grower and owner of B&H Organic Produce in Caernarvon Township, Lancaster County. Lavdanski sells at farm markets and to local restaurants.

She's no stranger to food safety, either. Her farm is working to qualify for GAP, or Good Agricultural Practices, certification by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She rerouted waterways around her fields to keep them free of manure runoff.

"We take as many precautions as possible," she said. "What if somebody got sick? That would be awful."

But, even though she would not be subject to the proposed regulations as they stand now, she's skeptical of the proposed rules. Food safety is a valid concern, she said, but small farms are not the problem.

"I think the problem is much bigger than they can solve by forcing us to have hand-washing stations at farmers markets," she said.

"These rules are definitely the biggest change in food-safety regulations in over 70 years," said Brian Snyder, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, a nonprofit group. The FDA "is trying to move from reactionary to proactive."

PASA has yet to comment on the proposals, but its focus will likely be on sharply defining where FDA's authority stops, he said.

Without that, Snyder said, "We anticipate some huge problems."

Small farm concerns

The farming community in Berks County is waiting to see how these rules will be enforced, said Sheila Miller, the county's agricultural coordinator.

Some worry that the regulations will drive more small farmers out of business because of the expense of complying.

"Yes, you can get sick from a local farm," she said. "But I think the bigger and bigger ag becomes, because government keeps tightening the noose around farmers, we're going to have fewer small farms."

And that will make food less secure, she said.

Experts agree that food sold direct from the farm to the consumer is the safest because there are fewer opportunities for it to be contaminated.

Training needed

Penn State's LaBorde doesn't see the rules as a threat to farmers.

"Small farmers will have to keep more records," he acknowledged, but added, "the records aren't huge."

Programs to teach farmers how to fill out the forms may help ease some of the anxiety, he said.

"Once they learn how to do it, I don't' think it will be that bad," LaBorde said.

Weaver, a horse-and-buggy Mennonite who specializes in heirloom tomatoes, developed a system that enables him to efficiently satisfy the record-keeping requirements of his customers. He keeps a series of clipboards in his packing shed to record each step in the production process, and maintains a thick three-ring binder.

Without them, he said, "I'd be banging my head against the wall."

Each tomato gets a sticker that enables him to trace the date and location the fruit was picked.

"If somebody hasn't done a thing preparing for it it's going to be a steep learning curve," Weaver said of the new rules. "It's going to be tough."